


For You I Will Surrender

by Haleykim84 (tristen84)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Asexual Keith (Voltron), Friendship, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21902695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tristen84/pseuds/Haleykim84
Summary: There's nothing Keith won't do to save Shiro.
Relationships: Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 233





	For You I Will Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Cocopops1995 for the beta!
> 
> Written for the Bad Things Happen Bingo.
> 
> Be aware that while the non-con isn't graphic, it does play a central part in the story.

_No no no no no this isn't happening…this is NOT happening!_

The panicked thought chases itself in Keith's mind as he presses down on the wound in Shiro's abdomen. Warm blood seeps through his fingers with every shuddery breath Shiro takes, and Keith sinks his teeth into his own bottom lip to keep from losing it. His heart thuds in his chest with terror.

_Shiro's dying… Shiro's **dying** …_

"What do we do? What do we do?" Hunk keeps muttering while he paces a hole in the floor of the cell, hand covering his nose and mouth to try and escape the heavy smell of Shiro's blood in the air.

"It's gonna be okay, Shiro," Pidge is saying, voice wet and trembling as she clings to Shiro's human hand, as if that alone will save him. "It's gonna be okay."

Shiro groans as Keith leans forward to increase the pressure on the wound. He's barely conscious, face as white as the shock of hair sticking to his clammy forehead, but he's hanging in there.

"I'm sorry, Shiro, I know it hurts," Keith chokes out past the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry."

"HEY!" Lance yells behind them, hands gripping the bars of their cell. "HEY! HELP! We need some help in here! HEY!"

The door to their cell block swings open and the Cardosian Commander who captured them, flanked by two guards, steps inside. The tall humanoid looks furious, vertical ridges that extend from his forehead down to his neck standing out on his light-gray skin, like veins that are about to pop. "I told you to quit that racket!" he growls, slamming the door shut behind him.

Keith scowls. "Pidge, take over."

"But—"

"Do it!" he snaps.

Pidge obeys without further protest.

Keith shoots to his feet and joins Lance at the front of the cell. "Please," he says, addressing the Cardosian Commander. "He needs medical attention! At least give us some supplies so we can take care of him ourselves!"

The Commander glances over at Shiro and then gives Keith an appraising look. "What's he worth to you?"

Keith holds out his hands with his palms up. "Anything. I'll do anything. Just. Please. He'll die."

The Commander turns to his guards. "If any of them make a funny move, shoot them." He strides forward and reaches through the bars to grab Keith's chin. Ice slides down Keith's spine, but he wills himself to stay still.

The Commander examines his face closely. The scrutiny makes Keith's skin crawl, but he keeps his expression neutral and doesn't move.

Until the Commander runs a thumb over his bottom lip.

Keith's blood freezes in his veins, and he jerks his chin out of the man's grasp before he can stop himself.

The Commander stares down at him with a look dripping with disdain. "So this is how much your friend's life means to you," he spits. "Watch him suffer a slow death then."

"No! No, I'm sorry," Keith blurts. He reaches out to snag the Cardosian's sleeve as the man starts to turn away. Keith isn't above begging when it comes to saving Shiro's life. "Plea—"

His cheekbone explodes with pain, and he falls back on his ass, head spinning.

"Keith!"

Both Lance and Hunk are by his side in a flash.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Lance demands, and Keith looks up to see one of the Commander's guards standing near the cell bars with his weapon raised.

Oh. The guard smacked him with their gun.

"He attacked the Commander," the guard snarls.

"Attacked him?" Lance says incredulously, and despite the situation, Keith is kind of touched that Lance is so indignant on his behalf. "He's literally behind bars, you paranoid bastard! What the hell did you think he—"

"Silence!" the Commander roars.

Lance shuts up.

Keith's head is throbbing, but he takes advantage of the momentary quiet to reiterate his plea. He catches the Commander's gaze before lowering his eyes in a show of submission. "Please. I'm sorry. I'll do anything you want."

"Prove it," the Commander sneers. "Take off your armor."

With some help from Hunk, Keith manages to get back to his feet, and immediately begins to remove his gloves, followed by his wrist guards. Shiro is running out of time.

"Keith, you can't seriously—"

"Shut up, Lance. I'm doing this."

When he's down to his flight suit, the Commander nods once more to his guards, who shoulder their weapons and train them on Hunk and Lance.

"Come here," the Commander tells Keith.

Keith does, ignoring the way his heart is pounding.

The Commander opens the door, takes hold of his arm and hauls him out of the cell. Keith winces at the ominous sound of the door clanging shut behind him. The man immediately invades his space, walking him back and pressing him against the wall. Keith grits his teeth and endures it. It goes against all his instincts – instincts that are screaming at him to _fight!_ – but he has to do this for Shiro.

The Commander buries his nose in Keith's hair and breathes. Keith lets him, clenching his jaw so tightly his teeth start to hurt. He digs his fingernails into his palms in an effort to keep calm, to keep from punching the guy's lights out.

Like the flip of a switch, the Commander's movements become more violent, urgent. He grabs Keith by the shoulders and spins him around, reaching for the zipper at the back of Keith's neck. He yanks it down, tearing at Keith's flight suit with his other hand.

Keith swallows hard. God, this is really happening.

He's not stupid. There's no guarantee that if he does this, Shiro will get the medical supplies he desperately needs. But what choice does he have? If he doesn't do this, Shiro will bleed out. He's not letting that happen.

Hell, if they told him to put a bullet through his own brain, he would probably do that too if it meant saving Shiro.

This? This is nothing. He can do this. What he _can't_ do is lose Shiro again.

The Commander turns him back around and pulls his suit down to his ankles, stripping him bare. A shudder runs through him and goosebumps raise on his exposed skin. In his peripheral vision, he catches Lance and Hunk staring in horror.

Oh god, the Cardosian is going to make him do this in front of the others.

The realization hits him like a punch in the gut. Acid roils in his stomach, and he has to swallow a wave of bile before it floods his mouth.

He flinches when freezing hands touch his skin and only barely manages to refrain from lashing out with his fists. His mouth is dry and he feels sick, nerves gnawing at his stomach. He's shivering, but not from cold.

"Get your hands off him! Get your hands off him right now, you sick bastard!"

It's Lance, who seems to have finally found his voice, and Hunk has started yelling and rattling the bars of the cell, but it only makes Keith cringe. His face burns with shame.

The hands are rough, bruising, and leave no place untouched.

Then, underneath it all, he can just make out a soft voice, rough with pain.

"Keith…no…"

Shiro.

Keith's throat feels tight. He closes his eyes and tries to shut them all out. He just wants to forget they're here, that they're bearing witness to his humiliation.

Large hands on his shoulders force him to his knees. A sharp tug on his hair makes him open his eyes again, and he finds himself staring at the man's crotch. The smell of the man's sweat is so overwhelming it makes his eyes water.

Panic claws at him and his stomach churns. He knows what the man wants from him, but he's never done anything like this before. He's never _wanted_ to. But now he has to. For Shiro.

There's the sound of a zipper being pulled down.

Keith closes his eyes again and lets his mind seek refuge elsewhere.  
  


* * *

  
When it's finally over, he's shoved back into the cell, clutching a small medical kit to his chest.

Pidge is still pressing her hands down on Shiro's wound, while Shiro's gasps and groans bounce off the cell walls. The whole ordeal with the Cardosian Commander probably only took fifteen or twenty minutes, but to Keith it feels like hours. It's surreal.

"Keith…" Lance says, but trails off, for once rendered speechless.

Keith ignores him. He can feel the others' eyes on him, but he avoids looking at them as he sinks to his knees beside Shiro. His hands are shaking so badly it takes him three tries to open the kit.

A pair of hands gently takes the kit away from him. "I've got this, buddy," Hunk says, voice thick and wavering. "You've—you've done enough."

Keith watches as Hunk and Pidge set to work. They pull out a device that looks like a dermal regenerator, similar to ones he's seen the Olkari use. If it is one of those, it should be able to slow Shiro's bleeding.

A shiver courses through him and he realizes his suit is still hanging half off his shoulders, mostly in tatters. The zipper's broken so there's not much he can do to cover himself up properly.

He jumps when someone drapes a blanket across his shoulders.

"Sorry," Lance says softly, sounding genuinely contrite. "Didn't mean to scare you. You just uh…you looked cold."

Keith doesn't know where Lance got the blanket, but he pulls it tight around him, grateful.

"Keith…"

Shiro is looking at him with unbearably sad eyes. Keith has to look away. He can't handle Shiro's pity right now, or his own shame. From the corner of his eye, he sees Shiro raise a trembling hand and reach for him, but Keith intercepts it before his fingers can touch his cheek. He holds onto Shiro's hand instead.

"It's gonna be okay, Shiro," he manages hoarsely. His throat is closing up. "You're gonna be okay."

His knees are throbbing, his throat feels raw, his whole body aches, and yet he feels numb. The only emotion he allows himself to feel right now is fear. Fear for Shiro.

Lance, Hunk and Pidge are still fighting to stem the bleeding, using the meagre contents from the medkit. It seems to be working, but Shiro is already too pale, and there's far too much of his blood smeared across their collective armors as well as Shiro's own.

_BOOM!_

The ship lurches, and Keith is thrown across Shiro, barely managing to catch himself before actually crashing on top of him. At a glance, he sees Lance and Pidge in a heap on the floor, legs tangled, while Hunk is just propping himself up on his elbows, looking around with wild eyes.

"What the quiznak just happened?!"

A few seconds later, the ship stops shuddering and Keith scrambles back onto his knees. "Shiro! Shiro, you okay?"

Shiro's eyes are closed, and when Keith pats his cheek he doesn't respond. Terror sinks its claws into Keith.

"No no no no don't do this to me, Shiro," he mutters, "please, don't do this! C'mon!"

He fumbles for a pulse and breathes a sigh of relief when he finds one. But it's weak, and if they don't get Shiro out of here soon—

Something brushes against his mind. Sorrow, concern. Red-hot fury.

Red.

Keith's heart leaps with hope.

"It's Red! She's here!" he calls to the others before an image is projected into his mind. "Allura and Coran are here too! They're close!"

Ignoring the chaos around him, Keith folds his hands back over Shiro's still seeping wound and presses down with renewed vigor. "Hang on, Shiro," he mutters. "Keep fighting just a little longer, help's coming, hang on."  
  


* * *

  
Shiro emerges from the healing pod on shaky legs. Someone offers him a solid shoulder to lean on. It takes him a moment to realize it's Hunk.

"You okay, Shiro?" Lance asks from his other side.

Shiro nods, a little confused as to why he was in a healing pod in the first place. It always takes a little while for the brain to reboot after waking from cryo-sleep. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Pidge nudges his hip with her elbow. "You better be," she says with a slightly watery smile. "You scared the crap out of us."

"We are glad to see you well again, Shiro," Allura says, as Hunk and Lance help him to a chair. Coran is standing beside her, looking as prim and proper as ever, but Shiro can see the worry lines between his brows.

Shiro frowns as he sits down.

Something is missing. Or rather, _someone_.

He glances around. "Where's—"

A memory stirs, and that's when his brain finally catches up. More memories float to the surface, as well as an overwhelming sense of rage and sorrow. He abruptly stands up, stumbles and crashes to his knees.

As the others shout his name in alarm, he leans forward and loses whatever's left in his stomach.  
  


* * *

  
He finally catches Keith just as he's about to round the corner at the other end of the hallway, bayard in hand, presumably heading to the training room.

"Keith! Wait up!"

Keith freezes, back and shoulders stiffening.

Shiro hurries to catch up.

"Don't," Keith says, without turning around.

Shiro stops dead in his tracks a few feet away from him.

"I don't want to talk about it," Keith adds. His bayard glows and then disappears.

"Keith…" Shiro pauses and takes a deep breath, reaching for calm. He still struggles to contain his own rage at what that Cardosian bastard did to Keith. Not to mention that he's been choking on his own guilt. "You've been avoiding me for two days."

Technically Keith's been avoiding everyone, not even showing up for breakfast or dinner, choosing instead to hole up in his room. Shiro understands Keith's need for space, but he can't let this go on.

"I said, I don't want to talk about it," Keith repeats through clenched teeth. But he doesn't walk away, which Shiro finds encouraging.

"Keith. _Please._ I know what happened." Shiro swallows, his throat suddenly tight. "I _know_ what you did for me back there. I'm—I'm so sorry I put you in that position. Please, Keith. Talk to me."

Keith turns slightly, just enough for Shiro to be able to see the side of his face. He's glaring down at the floor, arms crossed tightly across his chest. "Not your fault, Shiro," he says. "I'm fine. I did what I had to."

"Then why have you been avoiding me?"

Keith's shoulders tense up further. He doesn't answer.

Shiro shuffles a step closer.

"Keith," he starts, keeping his voice soft. "It's okay to be angry and upset about what happened. About what that bastard did to you. I mean, _I'm_ upset. I'm freaking _pissed_ at that guy."

This really isn't the best place to have this conversation, but if he doesn't talk to Keith now, he knows Keith will throw up his walls and push him away like he does with everyone else.

"It was _my_ choice."

"Keith, you were forced to choose between—" Shiro closes his eyes for a moment, and has to take another calming breath. "Between— pleasuring that guy and letting me die." The words burn his tongue like acid. "That wasn't a choice at all."

Keith scowls and grips his arms tighter. "It was still my decision. It's not a big deal, okay? Just leave it alone."

Shiro nearly chokes on his own spit. "Not a big deal? Are you _kidding_ me? Keith—"

"Shiro, would you just drop it?" Keith snaps, finally turning around completely. "I said I didn't want to talk about it!" There's fire in his eyes and fury in his stance, but both fade a second later. His eyes widen for a moment before his gaze slides sideways.

Shiro takes another cautious step closer.

"I—I'm sorry, Shiro," Keith mutters, hands clenched at his sides now. "I just—I just want to forget and move on." His voice cracks on the last word. He sniffs, and Shiro is close enough now to be able to notice Keith's shoulders shaking. Shiro's heart aches for him. He reaches out, but pulls his hand back at the last second.

"Keith…can you look at me? Please?"

Keith doesn't respond, but his whole body is trembling.

"Keith…please, let me in. Let me help you." Shiro takes a steadying breath. "Please don't shut me out. I don't—I don't want to lose you."

Keith makes an awful sound deep in his throat. He bows his head, his shoulders shaking in earnest now.

Shiro's heartbroken. "Keith," he manages, barely above a whisper. "Keith, can I hug you?"

Keith nods once. It's enough for Shiro to close the remaining distance between them and wrap him up in his arms.

Keith stands stiffly, hiding his face in Shiro's shoulder. "It was worth it," he chokes out in between shuddering breaths. "It was worth it."

_No, it wasn't,_ Shiro thinks, but he can't speak past the lump in his throat. Instead, he rests his cheek on top of the dark hair, tightening his arms around Keith. His eyes sting.

After a while, Keith calms down, but he doesn't move away and Shiro doesn't let go.

"I hated it, Shiro," Keith whispers, hoarsely. "I hated it so much."

Shiro closes his eyes and rubs Keith's back. Not for the first time he wishes he could rip out some throats, namely those of a certain Cardosian Commander and his guards. But even if he could, it wouldn't fix anything, and it wouldn't help Keith.

"I know," he murmurs. "I know. I'm so sorry, Keith. I'm _so_ sorry. You shouldn't have had to do that."

And he is going to make damn sure Keith will never have to do anything like that again. Even if it kills him.

"Shiro?" Keith pulls away just enough to look up at him, though he doesn't quite meet Shiro's eyes.

Shiro's throat tightens again at the sight of Keith's red-rimmed eyes, tears still caught in Keith's eyelashes. "Yeah, bud?"

"I'm glad you're okay."

Shiro lets out a strangled sound. "You took care of me, Keith. You _saved_ me," he manages, smoothing Keith's hair from his forehead. "Now please let me take care of you, alright? I want to make sure you're okay, too."

Keith sniffs and hides his face in Shiro's shoulder again. He doesn't reply.

But Shiro feels his fingers curl into the back of his vest, and to him, that's answer enough.

**Author's Note:**

> The bingo prompt for this fic was forcibly stripped (with protective team).


End file.
